There are a wide variety of surgical instruments used in procedures for treating pelvic floor disorders. Needles, suture passers and ligature carriers are commonly available in surgical centers and hospitals. Examples of such surgical instruments include Stamey needles, Raz needles, and Pereyra needles. See Stamey, Endoscopic Suspension of the Vesical Neck for Urinary Incontinence in Females, Ann. Surgery, pp. 465-471, October 1980; and Pereyra, A Simplified Surgical Procedure for the Correction of Stress Incontinence in Women, West. J. Surg., Obstetrics & Gynecology, pp. 243-246, July-August 1959.
Handles used with surgical instruments for treating pelvic floor disorders vary in size and shape. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,112,344; 5,899,909; 6,605,097 and 6,612,977 show various handles for use with surgical instruments for treating pelvic floor disorders such as incontinence. Published U.S. Pat. Application No. 2002 0099259-A1 discloses a handle for use with a needle useful in a variety of procedures, including a sling procedure for treating incontinence. Other handles are disclosed in published U.S. Pat. Application Nos. 2002 091298-A1 and 2001 0053916-A1.
Emmett needles are used in procedures for treating incontinence. An Emmet needle is depicted in Dargent et al., Pose d'un ruban sous uretral oblique par voie obturatrice dans le traitement de l'incontinence urinaire feminine, Gynecol. Obstet. Fertil 2002; 30:576-82. The Emmet needle includes a handle, a curved portion with a tip and what can be described as a short, straight portion between the curved portion and the handle. However, the needle is generally not meant to be rotated about the axis of the straight portion while it is within the body.
Some suture passers have straight and curved portions. These suture passers are typically reusable devices with a relatively sharp tip. These devices typically are cast from a relatively heavy metal, such as stainless steel, with no plastic component. As a result, a large proportion of the weight of the reusable suture passers resides in their handle portions.